Control for thread cutter



May 31, 1955 w. E. KIMMEL 2,709,459

CONTROL FOR THREAD CUTTER Filed Aug. 14. 1955 k mmfi, l/A m m\\\\\\\\\ 's r w 40 42 I I I 1 INVENTOR WILLIAM E.KIMMEL ATTORNEY United States Patent CONTROL FGR TERRA!) CUTTER William E. Kimmel, Millbury, Masa, assignor to Crompton d; Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application August 14, 1953, Serial No. 374,269

9 Claims. (Cl. 139-403) This invention relates to improvements in selvage thread cutting mechanisms for looms and it is the general object of the invention to prevent such mechanism from cutting a thread extending from the selvage to a shuttle which is inactive for a number of successive picks.

In the weaving of certain fabrics it was desirable to introduce a single pick of decorative weft and then move the shuttle supplyin such weft to inactive position while a plurality of picks of another kind or kinds of weft are Woven, after which the shuttle is again active for one pick. When the shuttle with decorative weft is inactivated at the magazine side of the loom there is likelihood that during its period of inaction continued weaving by the loom will move its thread into the range of operation of the selvage cutter, and if this should happen the thread would be cut and upon return of the shuttle to action no weft would be laid and the loom would be stopped by the weft stop motion.

It is an important object of the present invention to control the selvage cutter in such manner that it cannot operate to cut the thread of a shuttle which is held in inactive position long enough to allow its thread to move within the range of operation of the cutter. In the example of the invention set forth herein such control is exercised by means operatively connected to the shifting shuttle boxes so that as the boxes shift to move a shuttle with decorative weft to inactive position they also act to prevent operation of the selvage cutter as long as the shuttle is inactive. Selvage cutters generally have regularly recurring operations which as set forth herein are prevented while the shuttle is inactive.

The shuttle boxes generally shift during a period occurring while the lay is in the forward part of its reciprocation, the shifting generally starting after the lay reaches bottom center and being completed at about the time the lay is at top center. in this operation the boxes shift while the lay is on front center and if a temple cutter is used of the type which operates due to forward motion of the lay there is the possibility that control of the cutter might be relinquished soon enough to enable the cutter to cut the thread on the beat of the loom during which the previously inactive shuttle is returning to active position.

It is a further object of the invention to provide control connections between the shuttle boxes and the cutter operating in such manner that the cutter will not be returned to its normal operating position until after the lay has reached such a position that it cannot operate the cutter on the beat of the loom when the previously inactive shuttle is returning to action. As shown herein this result is accomplished by providing the control connections with a spring which inactivates the selvage cutter during the first part of the box shift which moves the shuttle to inactive position, after which the spring is stressed, as by being stretched, during the remainder of the box shift. During the first part of a box shift which returns the shuttle to active position the spring returns ice to its unstressed condition, but not until the lay has passed the point in its motion where it could operate the cutter.

Temple cutters are usually provided with a spring which yieldingly holds the cutter in raised rear position and also holds an arm on the cutter in the path of the lay. The lay normally overpowers this spring and moves the cutter first downwardly behind the thread and then forwardly to effect cutting. When the previously mentioned spring in the control connections is used it will be stronger than the temple cutter spring so that when the shuttle boxes shift to return the inactive shuttle to action the stronger spring will prevent the temple cutter spring from returning the arm on the cutter to a position in the path of the lay until the latter is near front center or is moving rearwardly and is unable to operate the cutter.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood reference is made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example the embodiments of the invention and in which:

Fig. l is a front elevation of the weft replenishing end of a loom having the invention applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section on line 2--2, Fig. 1,

Figs. 3 and 4 are enlarged horizontal detail sections on lines 3-3 and 44, respectively, Fig. 1.

Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views illustrating the manner of operation of the invention, and

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic plan view looking in the direction of arrow 7, Fig. 1, showing the relation of the cutter with respect to the cloth and a thread leading to an idle shuttle.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 7, the loom includes a stationary frame 1 having a breast beam 2 which in the present instance may be made with an angle iron 3. The cloth 4 extends over the breast beam and the top and bottom warp sheets W1 and W2, respectively, lead rearwardly from the fell F of the cloth. Mounted on the angle iron is a temple T provided with a cutter designated generally at C. This cutter has a cutting blade 5 and a depending arm 6 for operation by a hunter 7 on a lay 8 which oscillates back and forth along a path as usual. The temple includes a pin 9 extending through a slot 10 in the cutter C and the latter is normally urged rearwardly and upwardly to assume the position shown in Fig. 5 by the usual spring H.

In ordinary operation the arm 6 will be in the path of hunter 7 and will be engaged by it to move the blade first downwardly behind a thread, if it is present, and then forwardly, or from the position shown in Fig. 5 to substantially the position shown in Fig. 6, on every forward beat of the lay. Any thread extending from the selvage to the right as viewed in Figs. 1 to 7 which is within the range of operation of the cutter will becut by the latter. It should be understood however that the temple cutter is generally set so that its cutting range R is forward of the fell F of cloth by several picks, this cutting range being defined by lines a and b in Fig. 7.

The lay has mounted thereon a gang G of shuttle boxes having in the present instance upper and lower shuttle boxes 15 and 16, respectively, which receive shuttlesSl and S2, respectively. The gang is mounted on a box lifter rod 17 which is lifted in usual manner by a flexible connector 18 trained over a sheave l9 and extending to the head mechanism (not shown) at the opposite end of the loom. The lay has ashuttle race 20 and the gang has an upper floor 21 for box 15 anda lower floor 22 for box 16. Either of these floors may be aligned with the shuttle race 20 depending upon the position of the lifter rod 17 so that either of the. shuttle boxes can be in active position. As shown in full'lines in Fig. 1 the shuttle gang is in down position with the" upper shuttle box 15 in active or picking position. The gang can, however, raise to the dotted line position in which the box 15 will be inactive and the lower shuttle box 16 will be in active position. The gang G when shifting will do so during a period in the loom operation when the reciprocating lay is in the forward part of its motion, or is moving approximately from bottom center through front center to top center positions thereof.

The loom is also provided with a reserve bobbin magazine M of the type which can transfer a bobbin into a shuttle in the box 15 when the latter is in raised dotted line position shown in Fig. l. The loom also has a weft detector D mounted on a slide 25 guided for vertical motion on a support 26 held in fixed position on a stationary arm 27 depending from the magazine. A rod 28 is connected at its upper end to a stud 29 on slide 25 and is connected at its lower end to a small arm 3% secured to the box lifter rod 17. The rods 17 and 28 therefore rise and fall together but the rod 17 partakes of the back and forth motion of the lay, whereas the rod 28 does not.

The matter thus far described is of common construction and operates in the usual manner. The detector D registers with the upper shuttle box 15 and when the latter rises the detector and slide 25 also rise. The detector cannot ordinarily indicate weft exhaustion when it is in the down position shown in Fig. 1, but it can indicate exhaustion when in high position, or is rising as the shuttle boxes rise.

As already stated the weaving of certain fabrics requires a single pick of a decorative weft and these single picks will be separated by a number of intervening picks of a different weft. This requires that the shuttle carrying the decorative weft be held in idle position first at one side of the loom and then at the opposite side. No particular difficulty arises from this requirement when the shuttle is at the non-replenishing end of the loom which is ordinarily not equipped with a thread cutter, but when the shuttle is stored at the magazine end of the loom at which the thread cutter is located there is likelihood that its thread T1 will be moved by the cloth from the full line rear position, Fig. 7, forwardly to the dotted line position within the range R of operation of the thread cutter. It is assumed herein that shuttle S1 in box 15 carries the decorative weft and that upon completing a flight from the opposite side of the 100m the shuttle will enter the box 15 and then immediately be lifted to the dotted line position, Fig. l, where it will be held out of action for a number of successive picks. If the thread T1 should be cut while shuttle S1 is inactive then upon return of this shuttle to active position its thread would have no anchorage at the adjacent selvage 31. The shuttle would therefore not be able to lay a pick of weft and this would cause loom stoppage by the weft stop motion (not shown).

It is the general purpose of the present invention to control the cutter C in such a manner that it cannot cut the thread T1 during a period of continued inaction on the part of the shuttle S1. In carrying the invention into effect operative connections designated generally at 35 are provided between a means moving in timed relation with the gang G, such as the slide 25,- and the cutter C. These connections include a flexible cable 36 connected to stud 29 and extending under two sheaves 37 and then upwardly to the lower end of a tension spring 38 which is stronger than the cutter spring 11. The upper end of the spring is connected to a second flexible cable 39 which passes through a guide 40 and is then secured at 41 to arm 6 of the cutter. The guide 40 has upper and lower parallel guide bars 42 and 43, respectively, between which the cable 39 extends, and has a foot 44 secured to the breast beam at 45.

In operation, the connection 35 will be slack whenever the gang G is in the low position shown infull lines in Fig. 1 and the cutter C will be able to assume the position shown diagrammatically in Fig. 5 and at each beat-up of the lay the blade 5 will have an operation in which it first moves downwardly and then forwardly to some such position as shown in Fig. 6, and then as the lay recedes the blade will move rearwardly and then upwardly, back to the position shown in Fig. 5. On the beat of the loom when gang G is lifted to make box 15 inactive, however, the connection 35 is placed under tension by up motion of the slide 25 and stud 29 and during the first part of the up motion of the boxes the spring 33, being stronger than spring 11, will cause the cutter to move to the position shown in Figs. 2 and 6 with arm 6 out of the path of the bunter before the spring 38 begins to stretch. Continued up motion of the boxes represents lost motion so far as the cutter is concerned and spring 38 will stretch to a stressed condition. The cutter will then be held in the position shown in Fig. 6 as long as the gang G is up to prevent the lay from causing the cutter to operate. if a shuttle is in the top box 15 its thread T1 can pass forwardly to the dotted line position, Fig. 7, within the operating range R of the cutter, but will not be out since the cutter is held temporarily idle with its arm 6 out of the path traversed by the lay.

When on a later beat of the loom the shuttle box 15 is restored to active position the gang G will have a down return movement during a box shifting period and during the first part of the downward movement of the gang the spring 38 will contract to assume its normal condition, but during the contraction it will still overpower spring 11 and hold the cutter blade 5 in its inactive position. When the gang G is low enough to permit spring 38 to be fully contracted in unstressed condition the lay will be near or somewhat rearward of its front center position, and as down shift of gang G is completed the spring 11 will be free to act. This freedom of spring 11 to act comes at a time, however, when the lay has passed the point where it can operate the cutter. This feature of the in vention insures non-cutting of the thread when the shuttle box 15 is returned to active position.

When the loom has shifting shuttle boxes at the end thereof opposite to the magazine it can operate with three shuttles for the purpose of mixing filling. Under these conditions the loom will operate on a four pick cycle in which gang G will be up for two picks and then down for two picks. Whenever the gang rises to move box 15 to inactive position the cutter will be inactivated, but only for a short interval, and the cutter will have two picks during each four pick cycle in which it can operate in usual manner to cut the thread of an outgoing bobbin incident to replenishment of the shuttle in box 15. If the loom happens to be weaving a fabric which does not require a single pick of decorative weft the control connection 35 can be disconnected from stud 29 and the magazine, detector D and cutter will then operate in the usual manner.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the invention sets forth simple means including the control connection 35 operatively connected to the shuttle boxes by which the thread cutter C is inactivated whenever the shuttle boxes move to make a given shuttle, as S1, inactive. The cutter is prevented from having its normal regularly recurring operation as long as the shuttle is inactive and there is no danger that the thread of the shuttle extending to the selvage will be cut. It will also be seen that the connection 35 is so constructed, particularly with referenceto spring 38, that restoration of the cutter to its normal condition does not occur until after the time has passed in the movement of the lay when the cutter could cut the thread TI on the beat of the loom when the gang G moves down to restore shuttle S1 to active position. The spring 38 is stronger than spring 11 and is in the unstretched condition when the cutter moves from the position of Fig. 5 to that of Fig. 6, after which the spring can stretch to accommodate excess or lost motion due to continued upward motion of the stud 29. Furthermore, the

slide 25 is to be considered as an example of means which move in timed relation with the gang G to inactivate the cutter.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, what is claimed is:

l. In a loom, a selvage thread cutter normally having regularly recurring operations during loom operation for the purpose of cutting thread, shifting shuttle boxes which during loom operation have a movement to place one of the shuttle boxes in inactive position, and means operatively connected to the shuttle boxes effective to prevent said regularly recurring operations of the cutter as long as said one shuttle box is in inactive position.

2. In a loom, a seivage thread cutter normally having regularly recurring operations during loom operation for the purpose of cutting thread, shifting shuttle boxes which during loom operation have a movement to place one of the shuttle boxes in inactive position, and means moving in timed relation with the shuttle boxes when the latter have said movement effective to prevent said regularly recurring operations of the cutter as long as said one shuttle box is in inactive position.

3. In a loom, a selvage thread cutter normally having regularly recurring operations during loom operation for the purpose of cutting thread, shifting shuttle boxes which during loom operation move to place one of the shuttle boxes in inactive position, and means operatively connecting the shuttle boxes and the cutter effective to prevent said regularly recurring operations of the cutter as long as said one shuttle box is in inactive position.

4. In a loom having a lay, a selvage thread cutter normally caused by the lay to have an operation each beat of the lay for the purpose of cutting thread, shifting shuttle boxes which during loom operation move to place one of the shuttle boxes in inactive position, and means operatively connected to the shuttle boxes and caused thereby to prevent the lay from causing the cutter to have said operations as long as said one shuttle box is in inactive position.

5. in a loom, a selvage thread cutter normally having regularly recurring operations during loom operation for the purpose or" cutting thread, shifting shuttle boxes which during a beat of the loom having a movement to move one of the shuttle boxes from active position to inactive position and thereafter during a later beat of the loom have a return movement to move said one shuttle box back into active position, and means operatively connecting the shuttle boxes and cutter effective to prevent said regularly recurring operations of the cutter as long as said one shuttle box is in inactive position and also during said later beat of the loom when the shuttle boxes have said return movement to move said one shuttle box back into active position.

6. In a loom having a reciprocating lay, a selvage thread cutter normally caused by the lay to have an operation for the purpose of cutting thread on each forward beat of the lay, shifting shuttle boxes which during a beat of the loom move one of the shuttle boxes from active position to inactive position and thereafter during a later beat of the loom move said one shuttle box back to active position, and means operatively connected to the shuttle boxes and caused thereby to prevent the lay from causing the cutter to have said operations as long as said one shuttle box is in inactive position and also during said later beat of the loom when said shuttle boxes move said one shuttle box back to active position.

7. The structure set forth in claim 6 wherein the shifting shuttle boxes move said one shuttle box into inactive position during one beat of the loom and during another beat move said one shuttle box back to active position while the lay is moving approximately from bottom center position thereof through the front center position thereof to the top center position thereof, and wherein said means includes a spring which is effective to prevent the lay from causing the cutter to have an operation on said later beat until after the lay has reached at least its front center position.

8. In a loom having a lay reciprocating along a path, a selvage thread cutter mechanism having a part normally in said path to be operated by the lay to cause the cutter mechanism to have an operation each beat of the lay, said part being movable to a position out of said path and the lay being unable to cause the cutter mechanism to have an operation when said part is out of said path, a gang of shuttle boxes which during loom operation have a movement to a position to hold inactive for a plurality of beats of the loom a shuttle from which extends a thread which would be cut by the cutter during said plurality of beats if said part remained in the path of the lay, and operating means moving when said shuttle boxes move to said position thereof to move said part out of said path and maintain said part out of said path as long as said gang of shuttle boxes are in said position.

9. The structure set forth in claim 8 wherein a spring normally holds said part in said path and said operating means includes a second spring stronger than the first spring, the second spring effective during the first part of said movement of the shuttle boxes to said position thereof to transmit a force derived from said movement of the shuttle boxes to overpower the first spring to move said part out of said path, and said second spring thereafter during the latter part of said movement of the shuttle boxes to said position thereof being deformed from the normal condition thereof to a stressed condition, the second spring incident to the first part of a return movement of the shuttle boxes to move said shuttle to active position returning from the stressed to the normal condition thereof while overpowering the first spring, and the latter spring being effective thereafter to move said part into said path during the latter part only of said return movement of the shuttle boxes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,628,307 Cunnifi May 10, 1927 

